Russell Vance, Ph.D.
Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, HHMI Investigator
University of California, Berkeley

“Shigella pathogenesis: in vivo veritas”

Bacteria of the genus Shigella cause shigellosis, a severe gastrointestinal disease that is a major cause of diarrhea-associated mortality in humans. Mice are highly resistant to Shigella and the lack of a tractable physiological (oral infection) model of shigellosis has impeded our understanding of this important human disease. We discovered that resistance of mice to shigellosis is at least in part due to activation of the NAIP-NLRC4 inflammasome in intestinal epithelial cells. Mice lacking inflammasome responses are susceptible to Shigella flexneri and exhibit the major hallmarks of human shigellosis, including inflammatory diarrhea and bloody stools. We are now using this new mouse model to further delineate the host factors involved in Shigella pathogenesis. In this talk, I will describe the model, including some recent unpublished data.

5 – 6 pm, virtual meeting

The Vance Laboratory
We study the interactions between pathogens and the innate immune system.

Infection is a constant threat to all living things. Most of us are oblivious of this threat because our immune system does a remarkable job of eliminating infectious microbes before they cause symptoms. We are interested in understanding how the immune system detects the presence of infectious microbes. We use all the tools of modern molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics to dissect the fundamental mechanisms that provide host defense. We are also interested in understanding the mechanisms by which pathogens evade host immunity and cause disease.

Zoom information will be emailed to branch members. Non- members can live stream the lecture on our branch YouTube page. (Note: video recording of this lecture will not be available)
Upcoming meetings:

794th April 25th, 2022: Bobbi S. Pritt, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

795th May 23rd, 2022: Student speakers at 4-5pm, Invited Speaker 5-6pm (Student Comm)

796th June 13th, 2022 Norman Willett Memorial Lecture: Invited Speaker 5-6pm (Education Comm)